


Falling Into Old Habits

by lorir_writes



Series: The Rebel [3]
Category: Rules of Engagement (Visual Novel), The Royal Romance (Visual Novel)
Genre: Angst, Cheating, Choking, Drunk Sex, F/M, Jealousy, Light Dom/sub, Substance Abuse
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-03
Updated: 2020-09-03
Packaged: 2021-03-06 22:00:02
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 5,265
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26276035
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lorir_writes/pseuds/lorir_writes
Summary: Incapable of fully trusting Leo, Katie searches for pieces of evidence of betrayal on Leo’s personal things during one of his travels as she reminisces about past relationships.
Relationships: Bartender/Main Character (Rules of Engagement), Leo Rys/Madeleine Amaranth, Leo/Main Character (Rules of Engagement)
Series: The Rebel [3]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1259534
Kudos: 4





	1. Part 1

“Daddy, don’t go,” Ava frowned, her eyes welled up as she climbed up Leo’s large frame and encircled her tiny arms around his neck.

“Honey, daddy has a job to go back to. I promise it’ll be just a couple of days. I’ll be back soon and bring home that trophy for you,” he replied stroking his daughter’s back gently in an attempt to soothe her.

Leo may enjoy the thrill of being on the road and joining the motocross competitions, but saying goodbye to his daughters was never easy. Emma would cry but usually would go to Katie for comfort. Ava, however, never left her father’s side until he finally went away and would often stay in the front porch for hours every day waiting for him to come back.

“Can I paint it pink?” Ava pouted.

“Pastel, neon or metallic?” A playful smile took over Leo’s features.

“Neon,” the little girl uttered.

“Sure, I’ll get you the new paint. But daddy has to go now. Will you be okay? Will you take care of mommy and Emma for me?”

She nodded, rubbing her tiny palms on her eyes.

“That’s my girl. Now, where’s Daddy’s kiss?”

Ava tightened her grip around Leo’s neck and kissed his cheek.

“Best. kiss. ever.” He replied grinning. Putting her down, he kissed her head, then walked towards his bike, waving goodbye to his twins daughters, Emma nested on his wife’s and Ava seated on the stairs of the front door. Leo heaved a sigh, turned the engine on and rode away.

_______

_**Previous Christmas** _

Katie read a magazine and sipped her fifth mimosa of the flight whilst watching the twins drawing on the floor with their father. They could get easily moody after hours confined into the Cordonian King private jet, no matter how rich and comfortable it was. Yet, Leo knew exactly what to do to put them at ease. She was fully aware there many perks on marrying Leo, but she was pleasantly surprised to find out he was an exceptional father.

Their first year of marriage was lovely, but Leo truly became a wonderful partner when they found out she was pregnant. When the twins were born, he hired nurses to help and learned with them how to change diapers, give baths on babies, effective ways to put the babies to sleep and what to do in cases of emergency. His excitement about being a parent grew with every little milestone of their children. With the help of the babysitters, she could easily bask in several moments of leisure, just like the one she was having at that moment. However, she couldn’t say the same about his evolution as a husband.

She didn’t know exactly what it was. He was a delightful company to go to friends and work parties, their sex life was amazing, he was a caring man and he tried to adapt to a commoner life, but something was amiss. When the kids weren’t around, he’d get easily bored and stayed away from home for hours. It was like he didn’t want to be there.

“Daddy, look,” Ava pointed to her drawing.

Leo examined the colorful sketch and grinned. “Is that our new house?”

The toddler nodded.

“A slide on the front door? This is amazing! We should send this to our architect,” he cheered.

“Daddy, look at mine,” Emma handed him her drawing of him riding a motorcycle.

“Aw, man… I look fantastic. Thank you, hun,” he kissed the little girl’s forehead.

“My drawing is good too,” Ava pouted.

“Of course it is, little bee,” he picked up both kids sitting them his lap, “You two are my little Frida Khalo.”

A ghost of a smile crossed Katie’s lips. Maybe she was asking for too much from a free-spirited man like her husband to stay more at home. He was never an indoorsy kind of guy and he mentioned several times how much he disliked to feel trapped in one place. Would Dean enjoy domestic bliss moments?

“Excuse, ma'am. We are about to land in Cordonia in twenty minutes and it’s requested for you to fasten your seatbelt,” a flight attendant said.

“Sure, but I need to put my kids on their seats first,” Katie answered.

“You don’t need to worry about that, ma'am. His Royal Highness and the nanny took care of them,” the flight attendant gestured to the side, where the girls were on their seats with headphones on and Leo was on the chair across them looking at the view of his childhood homeland.

“Oh… Okay. Thank you.”

“Call us if you need anything, ma'am.”

_______

“Ugh!” Leo’s socks flew across the closet as Katie searched for any evidence that Leo could’ve been unfaithful. Since last Christmas, Katie had a hard time trusting Leo again and whenever he traveled, she would go through his things until she was completely satisfied with what she found, but mostly with what she didn’t. “Yasmine, did you find anything?” Katie shouted.

Her neighbor and closest friend in town looked on his nightstand. “No. Just an old book, a Harley Davidson manual, a few correspondences… Wait, I think I got something. Have you seen his bills?”

“Of course I have. I’m the one who picks up and organizes the mail.”

“Really? Does he let you see it?”

Katie appeared in the doorway. “Which one?”

“His personal credit card bill,” Yasmine said shaking the paper in her hand.

Katie stepped closer, picked it up and sat on the bed, analyzing the content of the bill. “There’s nothing here.”

Yasmine sat by her side. “What about these flower shop purchase?”

“He sends a bouquet of jasmines every year so his brother can put in their mother’s grave on the date of her birthday.”

“Aren’t they half brothers?”

“Leo says Liam’s mother was his real mom.”

“And this bill from Godiva chocolates?”

“He bought those when Jess was here last month. They like to have candy after they drink too much. He also gave Ava and Emma a few strawberries covered in milk chocolate, which I do not approve, but at least he didn’t give them truffles.”

“And the Bluebella bill?”

“He bought it for me. We were together at the store, I tried on a nightgown and we had to buy it.”

“Because he liked it?”

“Yeah…” Katie looked down at the paper. “That’s one way to put it,” Katie mumbled to herself blushing.

“I don’t understand why your marriage is falling apart if your sex life is really that good,” Yasmine said.

“Because the problem is all the rest,” Katie hissed. Her neighbor looked at her astonished. “Okay, maybe not all the rest, but the partnership stuff. You’ve seen him. He barely stays at home with me, he doesn’t engage into any of the social activities of the neighborhood because he’s always on the road, he’s too friendly with other women. Am I crazy for wanting him to be a better husband?”

“Not at all. But you said yourself he doesn’t want to feel trapped to anything or anyone. Maybe doing those things is his way of dealing with the commitments all marriages require,” Yasmine acknowledged. “You should probably cut him some slack. And do the same thing for yourself.”

“What do you mean?”

“If he isn’t around and you think he’s cheating on you, leave him be and get a male companion while he’s on the road.”

“Cheating on my husband, Yasmine? Really?” Katie folded her arms and glared her friend. “Did you not understand this is exactly what made this marriage fall apart in first place?”

“Sorry… It was just an idea. But hey, it’s your marriage. You call the shots,” she stood up. “I have to go, because, different from you, I wish my husband left the house more often,” she rolls eyes.

“Okay, I’ll walk you out.” Katie followed her friend and opened her door for her to leave. “Thank you.”

“You’re welcome. Go get some rest before picking up the girls. And Katie,” Yasmine placed a hand on her friend’s shoulder. “Think about what I said. It’ll probably be the best for both you,” she said hugging Katie.

Katie hugged back then waving to her friend goodbye as she disappeared on the street. She bit her lip thinking about Yasmine’s suggestion and glanced at her, scrolling through the contacts until Dean’s number appeared on the screen.

_______

_**Previous Christmas**   
_

Leo and Katie walked in, each one of them holding a sleepy twin. They were greeted with rare smiles from his father and stepmother. They not only appreciated to know Leo’s behavior changed since he got married, but they also liked that he already had kids. Also in the welcome committee, to Katie’s displeasure, was Madeleine. They didn’t bicker, but his ex-fiancee seemed to enjoy the glaring contest during the tea. Leo, however, couldn’t care less.

“When are you moving to Monterey?” Regina questioned.

“As soon as we arrive. We just need to buy the furniture and decorate the house,” Leo replied.

“It’s a lovely house by the beach, but it’s bigger so the girls can have more space to play outside,” Katie added.

“How quaint,” Madeleine taunted sipping her apple tea.

“Well, it sounds like an excellent place to me,” Liam chimed in. “Hello, brother,” he smiled.

“I couldn’t agree more,” Leo stood up and greets his baby brother with a hug.

That was the first time Leo went back to Cordonia twice after years avoiding to go there since he got married. As the former crown prince, he knew the importance of his presence in the country to show his support to Liam in his first month as the king. He also could see right through his brother’s stoic mask. Liam was heartbroken for losing the woman he loved and being engaged to a woman he barely tolerated. His baby brother needed him and helping him to deal with it was his mission.

During lunch, the Royal family and their guests had a pleasant meal filled with gourmet dishes, fine wine and the twins’ adorable antics. After coffee, however, Leo spent the entire afternoon with his brother, leaving his wife with the girls. She did say she wouldn’t mind if he went, but Katie didn’t think she would feel so bored. And alone.

After putting her daughters down for a nap, there wasn’t much she could do. She thought about going to the palace library, but the thought of bumping into Madeleine or Regina was enough to make her regret spending Christmas in Cordonia. So she went online.

On her random scrolling through social media, she stumbled upon a familiar face on one of Jess’s pictures at Pictagram. **Dean Mitchell**. Katie bit her lip staring her laptop. “You don’t want to go down that road, Katie…” she mumbled to herself. A new comment alert appeared on a picture she was tagged in with her sister.

**“Nice pic. You both look great.”**

“Ah, fuck this…” Katie clicked on his personal profile and began to go through the images. He had several pictures in Capri, Porto, Santorini, Dubai, Ibiza showing his bartender skills. Pictures of him and Elsie eating ice cream, kite surfing, hiking. As she scrolled, a picture of a white flower hairpin popped up.

**“A small token of an amazing night with an unforgettable person.”**

Katie sighed smiling at the screen. Before she knew, she had given likes on many of his photos. “Damnit!” She smacked her forehead. “I can’t even dislike this, he already got the notifications.”

Minutes later, a direct message came on her phone.


	2. Part 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Leo’s and Katie’s past mistakes come back to haunt them and they reach an impasse in their relationship.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warning: This piece involves sexual explicit content (Dom/sub, choking, gagging) and mentions of drug consumption which may be disturbing/offensive to some readers. Reader discretion is advised.

Katie gaped at her phone staring at Dean’s contact number. Spite of all her efforts not to flirt with him, she still didn’t want to stop talking to Dean. He was always a good listener, so sweet and understanding. During the past few months, Dean has helped her since her problems with Leo began and things were improving slowly. She did notice the irony of taking advice from the guy who was the reason why her marriage in a bad place, but every time she needed a piece of good advice, she would go to him.

“Hello?”

“Hey…”

“Is everything okay?”

“I don’t know…” Katie picked at her nails.

“Katie?”

“Yeah?”

“What’s going on?”

“Err…” She played with the ends of her hair.

“Did you go through his things again?”

“Maybe…” She heard him heave a sigh. “I can’t help it.”

“Yes, you can. Be honest with him. Tell him how you feel about the marriage.”

“It’s not that easy.”

“I know it isn’t, but you have to. For the sake of your well being, and his. And your daughters’.”

“Yeah, I’ll try when he comes back.” A long moment of silence passed by before she found the courage to speak again. “Dean?”

“Yeah?”

“You’re great, you know.”

“So I’ve heard.”

“You are. You’ve helped me so much with my issues.”

“I had to.”

“No, you didn’t.”

“Yes, I did. I can’t bear the thought of seeing you unhappy.”

“That’s exactly what I’m talking about. You’re so good and selfless.”

“Is it really selfless if I take pride on knowing that you always come to me and I help you with your issues instead encouraging you to talk directly to the man you chose as a life partner and never picking up your phone calls again?” Silence took over again. As always, he was right.

____

**_Previous Christmas_ **

Leo, Liam and Drake killed the engine of their bikes and took off their helmets grinning. “Man, you really are good at this,” Drake enthused.

“They don’t give me trophies for being pretty. Even though I think they should pay me a lot better for that,” Leo jested.

“But whenever they start rewarding contestants for their egos, you’ll definitely win,” Drake retorted. The three men laughed.

“This was a wonderful afternoon, guys. I really needed this. Thank you,” Liam smiled at his brother and his childhood friend.

“Of course. I can’t believe you guys leave these babies sitting around here gathering dust,” Leo said.

“I take mine for a spin at night,” Drake shrugged. “The King here is the one who doesn’t have time.”

“Sure, because it’s so easy to convince Father, Regina and the entire King guard that it’s okay for me to ditch a bulletproof Rolls Royce and ride on a Harley Davidson,” Liam retorted.

“It worked for me,” Leo smiled.

“Haha! His Royal Majesty here isn’t as stealthy. He nearly fell into a bush of roses just to go out for a cronut and Bastien had tails on us the whole time,” Drake grinned.

“Aww…” Leo guffawed. “Don’t worry, little brother. You’ll get there.”

The men laughed once again.

“I mean it, Leo. It’s great to have you here,” Liam confessed.

“Hey, I’m here whenever you need me, Li,” Leo patted his baby brother’s shoulder fondly when the familiar sound of throat clearing came up behind them.

“Busted…” Drake muttered, making the brothers chuckle.

They turned around at the same time, Leo and Drake plastering the insolent smiles as Liam wore a more apologetic one.

“Hey, Bas! How’s it going?” Leo cheered.

“Your Highness, Mr. Walker,” Bastien bowed stiffly. “Your Majesty, Queen Mother Regina and Countess Madeleine were appalled you didn’t join them for tea.”

“Yeah, right…” Liam grumbled.

“You should go change before Lady Tight Leash finds you and stares aghast at the fact that you own a leather jacket and have dust on your face,” Drake mocked as Leo chuckled.

“Your Majesty?” Bastien called.

Liam glared at them then turned to his bodyguard. “I’ll take a shower and I’ll go to my office. Let the Queen Mother and Lady Madeleine know I won’t be joining them until dinner.”

“Very well, Sir.”

“Bastien?” Liam gave a subtle nod to his bodyguard and turned on his heels to leave the garage.

“Yes, Sir,” Bastien nodded and smacked the back of Drake’s and Leo’s heads while Liam walked away grinning.

Leo marched back to his room, taking off his dirty jacket on the way when he found his daughters playing with their nanny in the toys library recently renovated from them. “My little bees!”

“Daddy!” They squealed running towards him.

He picked them up and kissed their faces. “Having fun with Anita?”

Ava nodded.

“Daddy, you are dirty,” Emma grimaced and brushed her tiny hand on Leo’s cheek.

“Yeah, Daddy was showing Uncle Liam and Drake a few moves,” he chuckled.

“I want to see the maze,” Ava beamed.

“Sure, let’s do it. I’ll take a quick shower, call mommy and we’ll meet you both here, okay?”

The twins nodded. Leo put them down and walked to his room, but the door is locked. He furrowed his brows, but walked in through the girls’ room and opened the door that connected both rooms. As he opened the door, he found a flushed Katie staring at her phone.

“Babe?” Leo raised an eyebrow. “Watcha doin’?”

Her eyes went wide. “Uh… Nothing, just looking at some stuff.”

“Are you watching that fem porn again?” Leo smiled slyly.

“No…”

“Can I see it?”

“Leo!”

“Come on, baby… We can role play it,” Leo winked.

“I said no!”

“Okay, okay… We don’t have to do it now,” he lifted his palms up grinning. “The girls want to see the hedge maze. I’ll take a shower and meet them at the toys library. Wanna come with us?”

“Yeah, sure. I’ll wait for you outside,” Katie replied hiding her phone on her purse and leaving the room.

Leo eyed his wife suspiciously. Usually, she’s the one making questions and trying to look through his phone. And if there was one thing he hated was when someone kept secrets from him.

The family visit to the hedge maze was longer than they expected. Leo was so happy to have the twins there, he played with them until they were visibly tired. The couple dismissed the nanny for the night and took the toddlers to their room to give them a bath, dinner and put them to bed. While Katie tucked the girls in, Leo checked the news on his phone when he spotted Katie’s phone unattended. Taking a quick glance at the door, he reached for his wife’s phone.

Katie returned to her room and found Leo sitting on the end table staring at her phone. His features were reddened, one hand balled into a fist and the other held the phone tightly.

“Leo?” she asked quietly.

“What the hell is this?” his voice was low but filled with rage.

“It was just small talk. No big deal,” she tried her best to keep it together, but it wasn’t easy. Leo rarely initiated argues with her. Yet, the fights he did start weren’t small ones.

“Funny… I don’t remember you saying this when I talk to Madeleine,” he goaded.

“She’s your ex-fiancee,” she hissed.

“She’s also my stepmother’s niece and Liam’s future wife. She still is part of my life. And who are you to judge? You went a guy you fucked after I proposed to you.”

“Oh, now you’re throwing that on my face? Unbelievable,” she scoffed. “You were out, I was bored, we talked. That’s it. Stop making a fuss about it.”

“Are you fucking kidding me? I was with my brother helping him deal with the mess I made in his life and in the kingdom and you think you it’s okay to flirt a guy who clearly didn’t forget you?”

“It’s not like that, Leo. I would never–”

“Cheat on me? Well, the compliment you gave to his dick pic says otherwise,” Leo fumed showing the chat to her.

“Leo, please.”

“By all means, Katie. Do go on with your little chat with the bartender. Even better. Go to Thailand. He must be waiting for you. But rest assured I’m not going to be here while you pretend to be a loving wife to my family but you’re still thinking about him,” he grabbed his leather jacket and keys and headed to the door.

“Where are you going?”

“Away from you,” he said slamming the door shut and walked down the halls ignoring anyone who talked to him on his way out.

##  **…**

The night had deepened when Leo was back at the palace. As instructed by Liam, a few of his bodyguards was assigned to keep an eye on Leo and make sure he would arrive safely. But the guards were surprised to see he came back riding without anyone’s help, yet he could barely walk straight.

“Heeeey, Ems! Sup!” he beamed at the guard standing in front of him at the garage.

“Your Highness,” the guard bowed. “Do you need any help, Sir?”

“Nah… I’m fine,” he replied, trying to support himself on the bike and almost tripped over a toolbox.

“Sir, I take you to your room.”

“Nuh uh,” he shook his head. “I won’t sleep with that cheater. I’ll sleep with my daughters.”

“King Liam asked the maids to prepare a room for you next to your daughters’ in case you didn’t want to bother Lady Katherine, Sir.”

“Of course he did… Liam is the good one. He always thinks of everything. He always cleans up the mess I make,” Leo said as he tried to stand still.

“Sir, may I suggest you go to bed?”

“Why?” Leo gave the guard a nasty look. “No, you may not! I’m fiine.”

“Sir–” The guard tried to reach and help Leo.

“Sir my as–”

“Hey, Leo!” Drake chimed in.

“Heeeey! It’s my whiskey buddyyyy!” Leo cheered placing an arm over Drake’s shoulders.

“Thanks, Emmet. I can take it from here,” Drake said to the guard, who bowed and left.

“I’m not even going to ask where you were because I’m pretty sure I know, but you got your wife worried sick, dude.”

“Ah…” Leo scoffed. “That was all for show. She doesn’t give a fuck.”

“Leo, you have to get some rest. You promised Liam you’d join him for the breakfast at the embassy tomorrow at eight.”

“Noooo… Politics suck, man!” Leo grimaced. “You know what we should do? Drink Liam’s favorite scotch!”

“I have a better idea. How about we go upstairs, you take a shower, have a glass of water and go to bed?”

“No!” Leo tried to push Drake away, but Drake barely moved. The prince furrowed his brows. “Since when did you become a buzzkill, Walker?”

“I didn’t. But you have kids, remember? Two little cute identical toddlers, who make the most heartbreaking pouting faces when their father wreaks like cheap whiskey and pot and gets easily mad at them when he’s hungover?”

Leo’s heart sank. He was so mad at Katie and so focused on pissing her off he forgot how much Ava and Emma suffer from the consequences of their fights.

“Whatever Katie did, your daughters don’t deserve to become collateral damage,” Drake reasoned.

“You’re right.”

“I know I am.”

“Ugh… I hang out too much with my brother.”

“Come on, let’s get you a shower and that weird juice Liam drinks when he gets drunk,” Drake wrapped a hand around Leo and led him into the palace.

On the way to Leo’s room, they crossed paths with Regina, who asked her maid to fetch the juice, a few pills and water to help Leo deal with the hangover in the morning. He had just got out of the shower when he heard a knock on the door.

“Come in.”

“Excuse me, Your Royal Highness’” the maid bowed gracefully. “Here are the medication, water and the beet and carrot juice with orange. It’s recommended for you drink it now before the juice loses its vitamins,” she said extending the tray in his direction.

“Alright,” he replied taking the glass and drinking the thick burgundy liquid as he sat on the bed. “Thank you, Miss…”

“Angelique, Sir,” she answered coyly, her eyes fixed on Leo’s abs.

“Thank you, Angelique. You can go rest now. I’m sure Regina went to bed and won’t need your services tonight,” he declared, putting the glass in the nightstand.

“And won’t you need my help, Sir?” she batted her lashes, stepped closer to the bed and began to unbutton her uniform.

“What are you doing?” In the dimly lit room, Leo was too wasted to understand what was happening until she dropped her underwear on the floor and her hand reached under his towel. “Whoa! Hey there!”

“I can help you get rid of your drunkenness right now, Sir,” she purred unwrapping the towel from his waist and sitting on his lap.

“What the– Oh, shit…” he burbled as she massaged his testicles with one hand and stroked his cock with the other.

“Does it feel good, Sir?” she murmured, nibbling his earlobe.

“Damnit, girl. What are you doing to me?”

“Giving you the proper care you deserve, Sir.”

“Listen, I–” he trailed off as she lowered herself onto him.

“No need to worry, Sir. No one is listening to us and I’m wearing protection. All you have to do now is enjoy,” Angelique pushed Leo on the mattress and bounced up and down.

As he realized how close he was to Katie’s room, a sudden thrill of lust and rage took over Leo while he watched his stepmother’s maid riding him. “Well…” He gripped her waist and rolled over the bed then pinned her wrists. The girl stared wide-eyed at the large man hovering her.

“You’re new here, so I think you’re not familiar with my codes of conduct, but here’s rule number one: you don’t get to ride me until I say so,” he whispered, ramming into her fiercely. She whimpered. “But it’s okay…” he pulled out her leaving the tip of his cock inside her and one of his hands ran down her arms, tightened around her neck and he pounded into her again, smiling as she gasped. “I’ll go easy on you this time.”

Leo drove faster into the girl, sucking and biting her breasts as she moaned louder at each thrust. “You’re too loud, Angelique. We have to fix that.” Grabbing his towel, he pulled out of her, turned her on her stomach and tied the fluff fabric around her head, covering her mouth.

Leo plunged into her and pulled her head up with the ends of the towel whilst she panted, biting the towel to fight the urge to scream. He picked up speed, slamming fast as he pulled the towel, forcing her to bend backward. Her damp pussy clenched around his manhood and he growled when the door opened.

On the doorway, tears ran down Katie’s furious face as she watched Leo finish on the girl’s back.

_____

Katie’s heart raced as she sat on her bed, running her fingers through her hair. She wished it was just a dream, but she knew that was actually a vivid memory of her family’s last visit to Cordonia. A memory that would haunt her down every time she looked through Leo’s personal things when he went away. And no matter how many people told her to stop, she couldn’t. And so her sick cycle of jealousy went on.

Hours seemed to stand still that morning. With the twins in preschool, her housekeeper cleaning and cooking and the light work at her office, she had too much time to think. She needed to be calm when Leo arrived, but everything was making her anxious.

By the time she was finally going back home to leave the groceries and pick up the twins, Katie had pictured many different scenarios of their conversation and the thought of Leo not taking it seriously like he usually did was driving her mad. _But what if he finally sees how bad things are? Will he leave?_

Her thoughts were promptly interrupted as she drove into her house. In the front yard, Leo and his daughters laughed and ran around while they played tag.

“Mommy is here!” Emma pointed into Katie’s direction.

“And how do we greet Mommy?” He smiled at the toddlers.

“With kisses!” The twins belted.

“Then what you are you waiting for? Go!” Leo grinned as the little girls ran towards their mother and followed them.

Katie went down on one knee and hugged the twins.

“Hi, beautiful,” Leo said with a tigght-lipped smile.

“Hi. Welcome back.” She stood up and as her eyes met his, Leo’s smile faded. She discreetly looked towards the swings on a tree nearby and he nodded then marched to the spot.

Katie turned to her daughters. “You have been playing for so long that now Daddy seems hungry. You know what you should do for him?”

“Sandwiches!” Emma answered.

“And lemonade!” Ava added.

“Go ask Anita to help, okay?”

The twins nodded and walked away. Katie made her way to the swings, where Leo quietly watched the ocean.

“Hey,” she said taking a seat on the swing beside him.

“You didn’t wait until dinner. This must be a pretty serious talk,” Leo affirmed, his eyes still fixed on the ocean.

“It is.” She cleared her throat. “I miss us.”

“Why? I’m right here.”

“Yeah, but until when?”

“Katie, not this again…”

“I know it’s your job. But when you’re at home you barely stay with me. You’re always fixing bikes, going out with and playing the girls, meeting your crew. What about me?”

“What do you mean?” A line appeared between his brows as he stared at her confused. “You have your own life. Your job, your friends, your daily activities…”

“But I don’t have you. And not just for sex. I miss cuddling and watching movies together, talking all night, going on dates. We don’t do that anymore, Leo. And I need to know why,” she argued.

“Katie, we shouldn’t talk about this now.”

“Yes, we should. We have to. I can’t keep pretending like everything is okay. We both know it’s not.”

“Do you really want to know why?”

“Yes!”

“It’s because you got all crazy and possessive since we came back from Cornodia. I messed up, I apologized. But it seems like that’s not enough. You have to look through my stuff, smell my clothes and search for things on my phone to believe instead of just believing me and I hate it!” He snapped.

Katie’s eyes welled up. "Do you actually hate something about me?”

“Yes…” He sighed. “I wish I could let this slide, but I can’t. I don’t like this jealous, obsessive side of you. It feels like you’re smothering me.”

She bit her bottom lip as it quivered. Leo grasped her hand, his thumb rubbing it gently.

“I know I’ve been an awful partner lately, but I can’t be with someone who makes me feel like I’m trapped. Our marriage isn’t in a good shape and we only had ourselves to blame, but we’re also the ones who can fix it. And we’ll only get past this if we trust each other. So, I’m asking you right now.” He stood up, kneeled before her gaping into her eyes. “Do you trust me?”

_I don’t know…_ “Yes,” she croaked.

“Are you sure?”

_I love you so much, but I don’t know._ “Yes.”

“Okay.” He cupped her face with both hands, thumbs brushing away the tears. He stood up and pulled her into his arms. “I’m sorry, babe.”

“I’m sorry too.” She held him tightly. “I’m so so sorry,” Katie sobbed as she couldn’t no longer control her emotions.

“It’s all right. We’ll figure it out,” he murmured, kissing her forehead.


End file.
